8 Great Budget-Friendly Valentine’s Day Ideas

There’s no denying that there is always a lot of pressure that couples tend to place on themselves whenever Valentine’s Day comes rolling around. Sure, there are many days in the year that serve as perfect opportunities for love birds to declare and celebrate their love for one another. There are birthdays, anniversaries, career milestones, holiday getaways, and whatnot. But it’s always different when it comes to Valentine’s Day. This is especially true in the age of social media where everyone is practically showcasing their best lives to anyone who is willing to follow them.

Year after year, every Valentine’s Day, you will find social media timelines and feeds just flooded with posts related to romantic celebrations and grand gestures from significant others. Some of the usual culprits are girls posing with bouquets of flowers or boys showing off a gifted pair of shoes from their girlfriends. Given this oversaturation of the hype behind Valentine’s Day on social media, a lot of people are going to feel the pressure to step their games up and overindulge for their significant others on this romantic holiday. However, that wouldn’t be the fiscally responsible thing to do.

If you’re an everyday Filipino on a tight budget and you don’t necessarily have unlimited means to spend on a grand holiday gesture for your romantic partner, don’t fret. You shouldn’t allow all of the hype on social media to get to you. As they say, you don’t want to go broke trying to keep up with appearances. After all, in the season of hearts, what really matters is the meaning and the intentions behind the gestures. Of course, some luxurious and lavish gifts are nice to have. But they shouldn’t necessarily measure how much you love a person.

Just because you don’t have a huge budget for Valentine’s Day plans doesn’t mean that you can’t do anything romantic or well-meaning for your significant partner. In fact, there are plenty of things that you can do to make your partner feel the love that you have for them without you having to completely deplete your savings. Also, keep in mind that a big part of being able to make a relationship work is being responsible with your money.

Of course, this isn’t to say that you should always be stingy when it comes to shelling out cash for someone you love. If you have the means to spend for your significant other, then you should do so by all means. The whole point here is merely to emphasize that you don’t always have to be reaching deep into your wallet to let your partner know that you care for them. At the end of the day, all it really boils down to is the consistent efforts and shows of affection that you give to your partner on a daily basis.

Now, getting back to the topic at hand, some affordable Valentine’s Day ideas for you and your special someone:

Write a Love Letter

Go back to basics. Shakespeare is known as one of the greatest people to have ever lived for a reason. Sometimes, it really is just a matter of speaking about your feelings for your partner in an open and honest manner. Granted, you might not necessarily have Shakespearean literary prowess. But that’s not really the point here. All that really matters is that you bare your heart and soul to your partner in a way that they can understand and appreciate. Also, don’t do it through text or instant message. That would be too simple. There’s something so charming and appealing about receiving a traditional handwritten love letter in this modern age of technology.

Look for Local or Small-time Florists

Flowers are always going to be a staple gift for Valentine’s season and a lot of commercial florists know this. They are going to take advantage of the high demand for flowers during Valentine’s and will jack their prices up to some really outrageous prices. Of course, you don’t want to end up as that person who didn’t give their partner a nice bouquet of flowers for Valentine’s, do you? But what do you do if you just don’t have the cash for a premium bouquet? Don’t fret. With a little effort in research, you are bound to find a few independent florists or small-scale entrepreneurs who would be willing to make some nice flower arrangements for you at reasonable prices. It’s all a matter of seeking them out.

Cook for your Partner

In this case, the cliche really does ring true. The quickest way to someone’s heart is through their stomach. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise for you that cooking for your partner would be a really great idea for Valentine’s Day date. Sure, any random person can just order a pizza from the local pizza shop or book a reservation at a nearby restaurant. But it takes a little extra effort to actually prepare a meal with one’s bare hands. Of course, you don’t have to have Gordon Ramsey-level culinary skills. Go with what you know. What matters here is that your partner saw that you made an effort.

Plan a Scavenger Hunt

This might take a lot of time and effort as far as preparation is concerned. Also, make sure that your special someone is going to block out a significant chunk of their day for this. A scavenger hunt is a great way for you and your partner to do something fun together. Perhaps, you can make each checkpoint of the scavenger hunt a significant venue that has special meaning to the two of you.

Go Shopping as a Couple

Granted. Shopping might be a counterintuitive proposal to a budget-friendly Valentine’s Day idea. However, shopping doesn’t always have to mean unloading large amounts of money. What you and your partner can do is set a designated budget for each other and visit a mall together to shop for one another’s gifts. Set a designated meeting point at the end of the night where you both exchange gifts that you buy for each other. This way, no one’s bank account is being drained, but no one goes home empty-handed either.

Create a Carefully Curated Spotify Playlist

Nobody makes mixtapes anymore, but they should. Mixtapes used to be a great way for people to express their feelings for someone through music back in the day. People would literally manually record songs from their favorite artists that would reflect the feelings that they had for the recipients of the tape. These days, it can be done so easily through Spotify playlists or other music streaming platforms. If you aren’t on Spotify premium, you can always make a YouTube playlist instead.

Attend a Class Together

Classes are great for two reasons. For one, it allows you and your partner to spend some quality time together wherein you get to really focus on being with one another. Also, it grants the two of you the ability to learn something new together. Being in a relationship can be tough sometimes. This is why the two of you need to know how to overcome challenges smoothly as a couple. Attending a class together on Valentine’s Day can be a great way for you to build your camaraderie and teamwork as a couple. You can try looking into cooking, arts, or yoga classes if you’re in need of some ideas.

Make a Scrapbook

If you’re feeling a little artsy, you can always pull out an old sketchpad or notebook and make a scrapbook for your special someone. You can incorporate pictures of yourselves, love letters, mementos, and fun little tidbits that make up your relationship. It won’t really cost you a lot to make and your partner is going to appreciate the amount of thought and effort that you put into this kind of gift.

Final Word

There you have it! Those are just some ideas on how you can have a special budget-friendly Valentine’s Day experience with your partner. Because at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. It’s about the experience. You can buy your partner the most lavish and luxurious gifts in the world. But if you fail to give them an experience that is actually worth holding on to for the years to come, then you didn’t really do your job as a partner.

While it’s so easy to get lost in the fanfare and mania of Valentine’s Day fever, it’s always important that we sit and remind ourselves of what the day is truly about: love. Remember that love is not something that can be bought, bargained for, or sold. Love is earned and is given wholeheartedly. Without love, then this day loses all of its meaning. With that, regardless if you’re in a romantic relationship or not, we would like to wish all of you a Valentine’s Day that is filled with a lot of love and affection. For more quality content like this, make sure to follow our socials and the Silingan blog to stay updated on new posts.